Nine News Queensland

Nine News Queensland is the flagship state-based news bulletin of the Nine Network in Brisbane. It is screened across south-east Queensland on weeknights, while on weekends it is screened state-wide as well as in the Northern Territory.[1] Like all Nine News bulletins, the Queensland bulletin runs for one hour, from 6PM every day.[2] It comprises local, national and international news, as well as sport, weather and finance.

Nine News Queensland
Former opening titles of Nine News Queensland
GenreNews
Presented byNews:
Andrew Lofthouse (weeknights)
Melissa Downes (weeknights)
Jonathan Uptin (weekends)
Sport:
Wally Lewis (Mondays–Thursdays)
Michael Atkinson (Fridays–Sundays)
Weather:
Garry Youngberry (weeknights)
Luke Bradnam (weekends)
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons54
No. of episodesEvery day since 1959
Production
Production locationsBrisbane, Queensland
Running timeOne hour (including commercials)
Release
Original networkNine Network
Picture format576i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Original release1959 (as Channel 9 News)
1970 (as National Nine News)
1976 (as 9 Eyewitness News)
1980 (as National Nine News)
2008 (as Nine News) –
present

Unlike the other four metropolitan bulletins, this local edition of Nine News is addressed on-air by its state rather than its city.

Simulcast

The 6pm bulletin is simulcast in Brisbane on commercial radio station River 94.9, across regional Queensland on Southern Cross Nine as well as through Nine Darwin (on weekends only) and throughout remote eastern and central Australia on Imparja Television.

History

Bruce Paige and Heather Foord co-anchored the 6pm bulletin from 1995 until 2001, when Foord joined Mike London as a weekend presenter and Jillian Whiting replaced her on weeknights. London resigned in June 2003 after allegations emerged that he had organised a female friend to complain about the presentation of weeknight presenter Bruce Paige.[3] Foord and Whiting swapped positions in 2004 with Melissa Downes taking over as weekend presenter in 2006.

Foord resigned as weeknight presenter on 5 December 2008[4] and was replaced by Melissa Downes on weeknights with Eva Milic and former ABC news presenter Andrew Lofthouse fronting weekend bulletins. A year later, Bruce Paige stepped down from the weeknight chair (he was replaced by Lofthouse) and Heather Foord returned to present weekend bulletins solo for two years. Paige returned to full-time newsreading in January 2012, fronting Nine Gold Coast News solo until he was paired with Wendy Kingston in July 2016.

In February 2018, in a minor network reshuffle, Darren Curtis and Alison Ariotti were removed from presenting the weekend news; they were replaced by then-Nine News Regional Queensland presenter Jonathan Uptin.[5][6]

Ratings

Throughout the 1990s, and right up until the mid-2000s, Nine News Queensland was the clear-cut ratings leader in Brisbane.[7] However, when weatherman John Schluter resigned just short of what would have been his 25th anniversary with the Nine Network towards the end of 2006 (subsequently joining the rival Seven News Brisbane),[8] sports presenter Wally Lewis took sick leave after collapsing on-air during a nightly bulletin in November of the same year,[9] and rival Seven Brisbane poached then-Today news presenter Sharyn Ghidella from Nine shortly after to read its weekend news (and later weeknights),[10] the ratings declined, and in 2007, Nine News Queensland would lose its long-standing ratings dominance in the local market to the rival Seven News Brisbane.[11][12][4][13][14] After Andrew Lofthouse and Melissa Downes took over as the chief co-presenters in mid-2009, Nine News Queensland would start to chip away at Seven's lead,[15] and by 2013 they would reclaim its mantle as the top-rating news bulletin in Brisbane.[16][17][18][19] As of 2018, Nine News Queensland has lost its ratings lead to Seven News Brisbane once again.[20]

"Choppergate" controversy

The Nine News Queensland bulletins on 20 and 21 August 2011 included live coverage each night by reporters Melissa Mallet and Cameron Price, respectively, from the station's helicopter, which they claimed was "near Beerwah", where the remains of murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe had been found earlier that month. The reports were revealed to be fake when, on the second night, rival station Channel Seven recorded video of the Nine helicopter sitting on the helipad outside their studios at Mount Coot-tha at the time of the broadcast. Radar footage also revealed that, on the first night, the helicopter was actually hovering over Chapel Hill, 70 km away from Beerwah. Both Mallet and Price, as well as news producer Aaron Wakeley, were sacked by the Nine Network following the incident, and news director Lee Anderson accepted responsibility and resigned over the faked reports.[21] Despite the scandal, Nine experienced a spike in its 6:00 pm news ratings in the weeks that followed,[22][23] managed to win more weeks than it did in the previous three years combined (winning seven of the 32 ratings weeks up to the first week of October),[24] and recovered to reclaim its mantle as Queensland's most-watched news service by 2013.[16][19]

Current Presenters
Current presenters
Role Bulletins
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
News Andrew Lofthouse (2009–present)
Melissa Downes (2009–present)		 Jonathan Uptin (2018–present)
Sport Wally Lewis (1998–present) Michael Atkinson (2018 – present)
Weather Gary Youngberry (2009–present) Luke Bradnam (2016 – present)

Fill-in presenters
  • Eva Milic (news)
  • Samantha Heathwood (news)
  • Alison Ariotti (news)
  • Wendy Kingston (news)
  • Aislin Kriukelis (news and sport)
  • Jonathan Uptin (news and sport)
  • Paul Taylor (news)
  • Adam Hegarty (news)
  • Dominique Loudon (sport)
  • Michael Atkinson (sport)
  • Mia Glover (weather)
  • Luke Bradnam (weather)
  • Ebony Cavallaro (weather)

Past Presenters

Reporters

News
  • Luke Bradnam
  • Rachel Baxter
  • Lane Calcutt (state political reporter)
  • Ebony Cavallaro
  • Harry Clarke (crime reporter)
  • Reece D'Alessandro
  • Jordan Fabris
  • Mia Glover
  • Tessa Hardy (court reporter)
  • Adam Hegarty
  • Alexander Heinke
  • Harry Kriukelis (crime reporter)
  • Shannon Marshall-McCormack
  • Rob Morrison (senior reporter)
  • Emily Prain (crime reporter)
  • Annie Pullar
  • Tahlia Sarv

Sport
  • Michael Atkinson
  • Adam Jackson

Notable former reporters

References
  1. "Nine News Darwin to no longer have standalone bulletin". Northern Territory News. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  2. Kalina, Paul; Ellis, Scott (6 January 2014). "Nine quietly switches to hour-long news". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  3. Miles, Janelle; Connolly, Steve (4 June 2003). "Newsreader quits after complaint scandal". The Age. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  4. Tucker-Evans, Anooska (23 November 2008). "Heather Foord moving forward after co-anchor's gaffe". The Sunday Mail. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
  5. Butt, Phillippa (25 February 2018). "No more Jonathan Uptin on our weekday TV". NT News. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  6. @AlisonAriotti (12 November 2017). "Thrilled for a change in 2018 .. Job sharing daytime news on @9NewsQueensland with my gorgeous friend @EvaMilic9 !! Thanks @Amanda9Paterson & @kblooch !! #WorkLifeBalance #lovemyjob #hoorayforweekendsagain" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 November 2017 – via Twitter.
  7. Strutt, Sam; Shearer, Geoff (27 August 2011). "Choppergate scandal began with quiet backyard barbecue". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  8. Schulter shaft Cummins Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Australian-media.com.au, retrieved 26 February 2007.
  9. "Wally Lewis on leave after on-air mishap". ABC News. 1 December 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  10. Butler, Dianne (15 November 2006). "Seven poaches Nine newsreader". couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  11. "SEVEN WINS THE 2009 RATINGS YEAR IN SEQ". Yahoo!7. 30 November 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  12. "50 Years of Brisbane TV-Part 1 Good night and Goodbye: Farewells from the newsdesk..." Kuttsywood. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  13. Shearer, Geoff (17 June 2009). "Broom sweeps through Channel Nine as Bruce Paige quits". news.com.au. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  14. Knox, David (28 November 2008). "Melissa for weeknights on Nine". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  15. Shearer, Geoff (10 September 2011). "Choppergate victim Melissa Mallet hired by Seven Network that got her sacked from Nine". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  16. Knox, David (19 November 2013). "Nail biter in Brisbane news battle". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  17. Bodey, Michael (20 July 2015). "TV ratings: Nine's the one again when it comes to news". The Australian. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  18. HowieBennett9 (3 September 2017). "Congratulations @9NewsQueensland team winning 7 day ratings year @AlisonAriotti @DarrenCurtis9 @9MelissaDownes @Loftea #9NewsAt6". Twitter. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  19. Knox, David (16 September 2014). "Nine News wins battle for Brisbane". TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  20. McKnight, Robert (10 October 2018). "7 News Brisbane wins 2018". TV Blackbox. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  21. "Channel 9 sacks three, news director resigns over 'Choppergate' scandal". News.com.au. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  22. Baumgart, Sean (30 August 2011). "Nine ratings rise despite choppergate". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  23. Cooper, Nathanael (3 September 2011). "Nine's choppergate scandal impacts worst on network that broke story, ratings leader Seven". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  24. Hunter, Clare (3 October 2011). "Seven dominates Nine in TV ratings". Queensland University of Technology. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
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